[Spademaxey]

We are a young couple (19 yrs old) looking to move from Southeast OK to around my home town of Largo/Seminole, but have many questions! I currently am employed at a Wal-Mart Pharmacy, and will be needing to attend college, I am still doing pre-requisites but am persuing a Pharm. D. We have a 6 month old, my wife is from OK but the economy sucks here, wages are still at 5.40/hr! and rent is climbing with wages staying still because of out of town oil-field workers moving in for short periods of time. I was wanting to get an idea of what it would be like to relocate there now, I lived there about 5 years ago and I took my wife there back in May to see it and she LOVED it. I'm going to be looking for pretty cheap rent so if any of you know someone with a rental PLEASE let me know!! and as for working in pharmaceutical field I'd imagine there are openings in Pharmacy's etc.?? Any input on areas, rentals, job openings or just general info would be appreciated.

[Dee74]

Not sure what area of pharm you are working in but cheap rent is not something you will find in the area unless perhaps you room with someone. Check the online newspapers for rental and jobs info and Craigs list may help you out. Good luck with your move.

[BucsFan]

If Seminole/Largo is your home town and you lived here as recently as 5 years, I don't need to go into detail about the area. Have you looked into transferring to a local Wal-Mart. There is one near Seminole at Tyrone and Park St. and there is a Super Wal-Mart in Pinellas Park on US 19 just North of Park Blvd. There are Walgreens and CVS "everywhere" and my guess is you would have no trouble getting a job as a pharmacy tech. A lot of grocery stores are also adding pharmacies. I don't know what rents are like in Mcalester but I suspect that rents here are much higher. If you want to rent a 2 BR house in the St. Pete area, you are probably looking at average monthly rent around $1,000 (generally higher in Seminole.) Apartments and duplexes rent for less and that might be your best bet. As another poster suggested, you can go to the St. Petersburg Times website and check their online classifieds. The Seminole Beacon, a local weekly paper, also has web accessible classified ads. The two area colleges that I know of are St. Petersburg College (formerly St Petersburg Junior College) and the University of South Florida. St. Petersburg College is located in Seminole and they have an AA degree program PREPARING for a bachelor's degree in pharmacy. They also have a partnering agreement with the University of Florida for a 2+4 year "distance education program" (at the Seminole Campus of St. Petersburg College) leading to a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. I checked the USF website and did not see a Pharmacy program in their catalog but I'm sure you could take prerequisite courses at USF. You need to check with both of these colleges and find out if they will transfer credits from your current school. Also, since you are coming from out-of-state, you need to check on tuition requirements. Good luck and Merry Christmas!

[LM1]

Think long and hard about moving to Florida as a young couple without higher paying career type jobs.

You will find that yes, you might make an extra $3 or $4 an hour compared to Oklahoma, however, you will pay that straight back out in rent and other intangible expenses that are profoundly higher here than they are there.
If you're just looking to move to somewhere "better than Oklahoma", you could probably throw a dart at a map while wearing a blindfold and bet your life that wherever it lands, it will meet your criteria.

If you're looking to move someplace that will afford you opportunities and an ability to increase your lot in this life, such can be tremendously difficult in Florida. If I were a young person looking to move elsewhere to better my life, of the 50 states to choose from, Florida would certainly be in the bottom 10.

[LewLew]

Originally Posted by Spademaxey

We are a young couple (19 yrs old) looking to move from Southeast OK to around my home town of Largo/Seminole, but have many questions! I currently am employed at a Wal-Mart Pharmacy, and will be needing to attend college, I am still doing pre-requisites but am persuing a Pharm. D. We have a 6 month old, my wife is from OK but the economy sucks here, wages are still at 5.40/hr! and rent is climbing with wages staying still because of out of town oil-field workers moving in for short periods of time. I was wanting to get an idea of what it would be like to relocate there now, I lived there about 5 years ago and I took my wife there back in May to see it and she LOVED it. I'm going to be looking for pretty cheap rent so if any of you know someone with a rental PLEASE let me know!! and as for working in pharmaceutical field I'd imagine there are openings in Pharmacy's etc.?? Any input on areas, rentals, job openings or just general info would be appreciated.

You may want to post this on the Tampa board...there are more people there who truly know that area. I lived in Palm Harbor, and we LOVED it. Can't wait to get back to the West Coast of FL. Whomever said to make sure you have good paying job is a little off. Pinellas County and Hillsborough County pay very well by Florida standards. There are lots of large corp jobs, the medical industry is great, and there are many other things to do. I would suggest looking in Clearwater for the cheapest rent in Pinellas...Palm Harbor too. St. Pete is sketchy in areas, so cheap might mean unsafe. Tarpon is pretty cheap, but has a lot of flooding areas (although, that doesn't really matter if you are renting). I would stay out of Pasco. We lived in Pinellas in our early 20's to early 30's, and it was great. I think you'll find a lot to love about it, and yes, there are great Pharm jobs. Pharm sales, Pharm techs (both outsourced through corporate, clinical and direct), as well as other medical field roles you might find interesting.

[Spademaxey]

Thank you all for the replies, please keep them coming!!!